Elton John and Breastfeeding

[privategodfrey]

Crass and tasteless or do you agree with the spokeswoman from ABM?

article here

Can't say I got further in the article than the caption of 'thought provoking' on a frankly daft picture.

Really don't think it's intelligent or interesting in any way.

Made me chuckle actually as it is absurd.

For anyone else who didn't get any further than the picture, here is the quote I was referring to:

"A spokesperson for the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers said Sharkey's piece raised important issues of breast milk for surrogate parents.

She said: 'The painting raises an issue about surrogacy and gay surrogacy in particular.
'It is very important that surrogate children have access to breast milk.

'I don't know if Elton John and David Furnish are doing this but it is very important for little Zac's development.'"

Had the same reaction as Peppapig

So you don't think that it has helped to raise the issue of breastfeeding for gay/surrogate parenting?

I am going to get Photoshop-ing - "$19,500 with two prospective buyers already showing an interest"

I want to know who would buy a badly photoshopped image for that price.

as a piece of art or as a statement?

smellyfeet

I think the picture is crass but the issue of breastmilk being available to surrogate parents is important. It's not something I really considered until seeing this article.

Edgar

As a piece of art I think it's a pile of crap. My 14 year old can do better than that using Paint let alone Photoshop!

The statement behind the 'art' is the important message.

you can read it different ways - that gay parents can provide everything for the lo - or that they can't...

surrogate mothers can be brought into lactation (though in theory a male could be too....with more difficulty!) though there is limited knowege of this, i am not sure anyone is going to do more with this picture than look at it, giggle, and move on.

i am not sure anyone is going to do more with this picture than look at it, giggle, and move o.

That was sort of what I was asking Edgar i.e. will it do more harm than good by making a comedy out of what is a serious issue.

Bearing in mind that a poster on this thread couldn't be bothered to read any further than the picture, hence missing the ABM statement, how many other people will just treat it as a joke.

I read the whole article and it made me realise that whilst I donated breast milk in hospital for babies in SCBU I never even contemplated BF surrogate babies. I imagine Elton is rich enough to hire a wet nurse or pay the surrogate to express milk for bottlefeeding but what about the 'average' (if there is one) surrogate arrangement?

Whoops, crap copy and pasting there

omg hes such a twat

omg thats not thought provoking or raising the issue of bf for surrogates thats just making a laughing stock of bf

weird

omg hes such a twat

The artist who did it without permission from Elton John or EJ himself?

omg thats not thought provoking or raising the issue of bf for surrogates thats just making a laughing stock of bf

So you disagree with the statement from the ABM? Must admit the comments on the Daily Wail website certainly confirm your opinion.

Such a shame to see it has encouraged homophobic comments on there

It's from the Daily bloody Mail, of course it will do more harm than good!! Daily Mail readers are hardly the type of people to go 'Ooh, interesting, I'd long considered the problem of breastfeeding for adopted children. That picture is a thought provoking representation of a gay father's dilemma.'
Really? Of course it's an important point for consideration, just not confident that a publicity seeking 'artist' who's worked out how to photoshop is the person to raise it, and 100% sure that the Daily Mail (worthless right wing rag) is not the place to raise it. The Daily Mail's journalism represents and panders to the worst of 'middle England' small mindedness to me and can't bear to see any of it's nonsense quoted anywhere TBH.

Rant over.

LOL! Ranting is fine - I'm not in the habit of reading the Mail btw, that article was linked to me by a friend.

The only thing I quoted was from The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers btw, not the journos at the Daily Mail.

It was thought provoking for me in the sense that I'd never considered donating breastmilk for adopted/surrogate children whereas I have done so for babies in SCBU. Maybe that's because I can separate a sensationalist picture from the message that all children should have the option of having breastmilk irrespective of the gender of their parents. I have no idea of the average intelligence of DM readers btw.

I do agree that it will have done more harm than good but perhaps it will be picked up on by more 'highbrow' papers?

I don't think it will raise awareness of issues surrounding surrogate / adopted children and breastmilk. I think he is treating breastfeeding in a pretty flippant way.

Also, this is pretty offensive:

"Revealing why he decided to place Elton feeding a baby instead of David, Sharkey explained: 'Elton is definitely the mum in the relationship, where David is more like the strict masculine school teacher.'"